7th District Candidates Take Sides on School Site

Tackling the first contentious issue of the race, candidates for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council staked out positions Tuesday in the debate over whether a high school should be built on the old Gemco site.

To the applause of more than 100 Neighborhood Watch volunteers, candidates Corinne Sanchez, Ollie McCaulley and Raul Godinez II announced their opposition to a proposal to build a high school on the 12-acre site of a former shopping center in Arleta.

“I will not support the high school at Gemco,” Godinez said. “I would never have proposed a high school at this site without coming to this meeting and talking to the community.”

Sanchez and McCaulley also cited strong neighborhood opposition to the project in calling for the administrators to look elsewhere for a school site.

Alex Padilla, a front-runner with Sanchez in the 7th District race, told the crowd he has not taken a final position but called the school district “irresponsible” for not getting community input on the subject.

In an earlier interview, he had said that the Gemco site should be seriously considered and that some neighbors do support it.

“I don’t believe it should be ruled out,” Padilla said. “The response I have heard has been mixed.”

In interviews before the meeting, which was hosted by a Neighborhood Watch group opposed to the Gemco store site, Sanchez and McCaulley said the school should be built elsewhere.

“I would oppose that being a school site. It’s inadequate,” Sanchez said of the Gemco property. “I’ve walked that precinct and a majority of the people I spoke to are against it.”

She said the Van Nuys Boulevard site is too small for a high school and is better suited for development of another store.

“I don’t want to see a high school go in there,” agreed McCaulley. “The people in the area don’t want it there. That’s just too much traffic for that area.”

At Tuesday’s meeting at Beachy Avenue Elementary School, Sanchez cited the concerns of leaders of the Neighborhood Watch group, the Arleta Looky Loos.

Alternate sites should be considered, Sanchez said, including the Department of Water and Power (DWP) property in Sun Valley, part of which is used for a power plant.

But Sanchez said the Sun Valley site might not be feasible if it is found to have problems with chemical contamination or flooding, as school officials fear.

McCaulley also opposes the DWP property because of fears of contamination. He thinks the Los Angeles Unified School District should find a third location to consider.

Padilla, voicing grave concerns about building on the DWP property, said “The last thing the Valley needs is a Belmont High School,” referring to a downtown school being built on a site where there may be chemical contamination.

He said more studies of the two properties are needed before a decision can be made.

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Godinez suggested that the school district consider the former Alemany High School site in Mission Hills for the new high school.

The positions of Sanchez and Padilla closely reflect the differences of their key supporters. State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), who supports Sanchez, has proposed that the DWP property be considered as an alternative to the Gemco site.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, (D-Sylmar), who supports Padilla, has tentatively backed the Gemco site if the school board decides it is the best location for a school.

Harry Williams, president of the Arleta Neighborhood Watch group, said the high school project will be an important issue for Arleta voters in the 7th District race.

“I favor building a new school, but not in that particular site,” Williams said. “Because it [the site] is too small and it’s going to negatively affect the surrounding area.”